"or self destruction will happen"

I started the year with 23 students and they have each become a part of my life more than I really should admit. But when you're a part of TFA and a part of an extended day charter school, and you've spent more than 140 days with these children, they just sort of... grow on you. Seriously. They climb on you and hug on you and wipe their germs on you and sometimes, I feel like a moss-covered creature at the end of the day, with nearly 10 hours of blood, sweat, laughter and tears poured out for the benefit of these little creeps.

I love each of my little Aggies. But as you can imagine, it was easier to love some of them right from the start. In comes my rocket scientist. He is a sweet boy, quiet and shy and awkward. He wants to be a mechanic to help his dad and he wants to be an inventor to create potions when he grows up. His life is karate, video games, and being awkward.

We started the year in a rocky place because I had no patience for his booger wiping. Literally, middle of a math lesson, his finger is nearly to his brain and there's nastiness all over the table. Then he tells his dad at home that people make fun of him for being gross, and his dad is mad that I don't really have a lot of sympathy. Dude, we're 8. Wipe your boogers somewhere else and get a tissue. Also, he thinks I really enjoy hearing stories about vampires and blood. Over lunch. Umkay.

I'll cut to the chase. We're a part of TELPAS testing at our school to determine whether or not students are fluent in the English language and how much they've grown over the past year. (It's a state mandated process.) Part of the testing consists of 5 writing samples done over 5 weeks. In reviewing them today, I read his writing from February where students were given a list of science topics and had to choose one. Here's my friend's essay about "Why Lab Rules Are Important"... please note that there was not a period or comma found anywhere. Where were you during the puncuation lessons? Outer space? Perhaps looking for gross things inside your nose??

"cause if you are messing aroudn the lab something could pxloud or will be broken and when astronots luanch the rocket they will not know how to pilot the rocketship or land the rocket ship or if they are lifting a toxic thing they will trep over and everyon will have to be very quiet and if you are playing so so long in the laboratorie you mite hit the red button or break it with a ball wet it and then the big booming or self destruction will happen."

Upset as I may be over the lack of puncutation, I'm quite proud of him, and do think someday he'll be wearing a white lab coat and conducting some sort of experient in a college lab someday. And probably talking in a Russian accent. Gig Em, Ags.